For Henry, age 4: Knight and Dragon 36-piece puzzle (photo from Amazon.com). Note that the box is (1) cute, (2) an impractical but fun shape, and (3) not a match to the puzzle. Whatever, I like it and it has the right number of pieces and he loves knights.

Melissa and Doug Pirate Costume (photo from Amazon.com). My parents are giving Henry this. We have the Knight Costume, and it was so much better-quality and more awesome than I’d expected. (I’d been picturing a Halloween costume, made of thin icky material that tears after one use. BUT NO: it’s like what you’d find in a classroom dress-up box.)

Crocodile Creek Joust backpack (photo from CrocodileCreek.com, because Amazon’s was weirdly tiny), for Henry. We are very keen on knights and pirates, apparently, at age 4. Even though I got the backpack on a very nice deal (an unexplained short-lived dip to $13), and even though Henry won’t need a lunch box and water bottle for two more years and who even knows if he’ll still like knights then, I’m upset I didn’t get this backpack & lunch box & water bottle set for $24. I don’t know why it’s that low, but there are only five sets left and I’m tempted to get one even now that it no longer makes sense to do so.

Super Mario Galaxy (photo from Amazon.com). Edward (age 6) has been dreamily hoping he’ll get this for Christmas ever since his birthday this past year when he was dreamily hoping he’d get (and DID get), the significantly more expensive Super Mario Galaxy 2. I don’t know why he wanted them in reverse order like that.

Fingerstache Temporary Mustache Tattoos (photo from Amazon.com). Edward saw these when we chose them awhile back for one of William’s friends, and he was entranced. Lucky for him, they were 4-for-3 so I’d already bought four packs and could easily set one aside for him. (The stock-up was lucky for me, too: William came home from school saying he needed a $5-or-under Santa Swap gift for school, and I was trapped at home with sick children.)

ABC House 100-piece puzzle (photo from Amazon.com). Elizabeth (age 6) has been suddenly interested in puzzles this year. The 100-piece ones are exactly at her level, so we got her this fun dollhouse one.

Melissa and Doug Deluxe Bead Set (photo from Amazon.com). I had this on the gift shelf, and Elizabeth saw it while choosing a gift to bring to a birthday party. She was MADLY JEALOUS that this one was on the gift shelf instead of in her possession. After she chose something else for her friend, I secretly tucked this aside for her.

Hexbug Nano Battle set (photo from Amazon.com). I would never have guessed that Elizabeth would want a set of these, so it’s a good thing she mentioned it. And mentioned it. And mentioned it. Her aunt and uncle are getting it for her. They’re getting Edward the glow-in-the-dark set, which he is hoping for with clenched hands and squeezed eyes.

(Our car repair guy asked the twins what they were hoping to get for Christmas, and then I had to try to explain Hexbugs. “They’re like…pretend bugs. And they vibrate, but they do it in a way that makes it look like they’re alive. But like ROBOT-aliveness, not COCKROACHY-aliveness. And they go around in little mazes. …This is how you feel when you’re trying to explain my car to me, isn’t it?”)

Crazy Aaron’s Thinking Putty (photo from Amazon.com). Ever since Paul got the magnetic version of this as a gift, we’ve had it on our idea list for William (age 10). We got him one heat-sensitive color-change variety and one color-shifting variety.

Hexbug Remote-Controlled Inchworm (photo from Amazon.com). I don’t know (1) why this is called an inchworm, or (2) why this is so expensive, or (3) why William wanted it so much—but it is, and it is, and he did, so it’s one of his gifts. I hope the mediocre reviews don’t mean it will be a disappointing gift. I bought it at Target, so it was more like $18 and it’ll be easy to return if necessary.

Makin’s Professional Ultimate Clay Extruder (photo from Amazon.com). William does a lot of Sculpey, and we had heard that an “extruder” (icky word) was awesome for it. When I was researching extruders, I found a number of reviews saying that the one they were reviewing was difficult to use and to get this one instead. I obeyed. Or rather, I suggested it to my parents and THEY obeyed.

SanDisk 4GB MP3 player (photo from Amazon.com). We bought Rob (age 12) an MP3 player last year, and he took far better care of it than we’d expected: it was only last month that it met its fate in a wash cycle. We’re getting him a new one this year, and because that’s a little bit of a bummer gift (he’ll be happy to have it, but it’s a replacement rather than a New! Thing! to Try!), we got him a 4GB instead of the 2GB, and we got it in orange (his old one was less expensive and only available in black at that price).

ThinkFun Solitaire Chess (photo from Amazon.com). Because the MP3 player was (1) his main gift from us and (2) bound to be a little bit of a letdown despite being an AWESOME GIFT, we were hoping to find a couple of really FUN small gifts: things that could be played with and be new and fresh. Rob really loved Rush Hour Jr. by ThinkFun when he was younger, so I’m hoping he’ll feel the same way about Solitaire Chess.

Wii Tetris Party (photo from Amazon.com). This is for all the kids, not just for Rob, but Rob is the one who likes Tetris best of all of them so I hope this will be another Christmas-fun-enhancer for him.

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What are some of the things you got for kids this year?

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